Namibia’s Urban Future was first initiated in 2015 as cross-institutional platform with the shared interest to explore, analyse and debate urbanization in Namibia. With reference to the country’s history and its socio-spatial legacies, contemporary urbanization is understood as a trans-disciplinary challenge that can only be re-directed if the complexity of the production of space is actively re-thought.

The initiative was launched in the presence of Honourable Sophia Shaningwa, Minister of Urban and Rural Development, and her Excellency the First Lady of Namibia, Madam Monica Geingos, with the overall question: “How can economic inclusion be facilitated through the progressive re-structuring of cities?”

The 2017 edition aims to address the broad spectrum of technical, economic, social and legal aspects that are relevant to the production of housing and urbanization in general, to prepare the ground for a holistic, cross-disciplinary review of Namibia’s housing and urbanization agenda. The forum is proposed as a 2-day workshop, with 8 parallel sessions addressing relevant thematic areas related to housing and urbanization, a daily keynote address and a closing panel discussion that will bring together the various aspects that were discussed during the forum. The forum will be open to the general public and will be funded by the various project partners.